The Archer Rises
by Ica013
Summary: Takes place during the events of the Finale. An interpretation of how Green Arrow overcame the darkness, defeated the prophets of Doom and reunited with Chloe. Story icon by Alxnhnt22


**_The Archer Rises_**

Disclaimer: Smallville & DC Characters are not mine. They belong to someone else. Just playing.

Summary: An interpretation of how Green Arrow defeated Desaad, Godfrey, Granny and then reunited with his wife.

Spoilers: All of Season 10

Parings: Oliver/Chloe

AN: The Smallville Finale for me had some great moments, but the story as a whole felt really rushed in some places. As an Oliver/Green Arrow fan I wanted more of an explanation as to how he was able to defeat the prophets, which prompted this piece. Occurs within Cannon and some of the dialogue has been taken directly from the show.

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><p><strong><em>'The Only True Power comes from Within' - The Writing on the Bow of Orion as shown in the Episode Prophecy<em>**

Oliver was vaguely aware that he was on his knees and that his face felt wet. It took him a couple of moments for the fog in his mind to lift before being filled with thoughts. Chloe. Prophets. Chloe. Wedding. Chloe. Gold Kryptonite. Chloe. Clark. CHLOE!

As his eyes focused he recognized Clark Kent crouching down in front of him smiling. Clark offered his hand to help him off the floor. "Everything's okay now."

Was Clark serious? He had just tried to permanently ground his friend, ruined his wedding and the sky outside had just gone from sunny to stormy in two seconds since he had stood up, a sound like thunder echoing across the sky.

"No it's not."

They both rushed towards the window that they had broken not a minute before getting their first look at the latest intergalactic traveler to grace Earth's atmosphere. Keeping his eyes on the sphere in the sky, he further observed dryly, "Looks like the world's going to need its hero's sooner than we thought."

"Lets gets back to the Farm and we'll take it from there."

Not a minute later after those words had left Clarks mouth, Oliver found himself face to face with the woman who meant everything to him. Quickly looking her over she appeared unscathed from the panicked exodus of the wedding guests at the chapel for which he was most grateful.

"Hey."

"Hey yourself," she replied softly searching for reassurance.

He gently lifted her chin so that she was looking at him.

"Chloe. I'm fine, I'm not infected with the darkness anymore." She looked into his eyes for a moment before wrapping her arms around him and laying her head against his heart.

"I'm fine," he repeated kissing her temple and holding her tightly to him, relishing how right it felt to have her in his arms.

He knew they needed to talk about what happened and he was willing, but with the world about to go to hell (again) now was not the time.

She kissed him before proving she was on the same page. "I love you… lets help save the world and then we'll talk okay."

-xxXxx-

It had been an hour and half since he had prevented the 'I do's.' The TV reporter was chirping in the background, Lois had been trying to get a hold of Tess, Mrs K the Pentagon and Chloe to remotely access Watchtower's database and satellites.

He hadn't left her side since he'd returned from the chapel and they'd been bouncing ideas off each other regarding possible fixes for the current traffic jam on the information highway.

His ears pricked up when he heard Tess's voice and he and Chloe edged towards the front room, where Lois was playing back a cell phone message.

"_Watchtower's been comprised, the prophets (static)….According to the journal's Apokolips is an actual Planet that's coming_."

"The eclipse, Darkseid's behind it, it must be why he tried to get Oliver to put that ring on me, he knew I would try to stop him," Clark said heading towards Martha.

He glanced at Chloe who looked back at him.

"Watchtower's been compromised. That would explain why I can't get access," she murmured.

He could see her mind was in overdrive trying to plot a course of action. If Watchtower was compromised then the back up base of operations was ready to go in Star City and if they left now in the jet they could realistically be there in less than two and a half hours all going well.

That was the all going well part. He knew full well the consequences of things not going well. In fact the last time things didn't go well, he had been tortured and Chloe had been separated from him for more than six months.

Martha's voice pulled him away from his somber thoughts. "If the Pentagon isn't stepping up, I'll call in every available agent, something tells me we'll need them all."

Chloe had started walking towards the others he followed. "No offence, but I think we're going to need a bigger team and if Watchtower's down I gotta go to Star City to access my database."

Again Chloe had proven that they were on the same page. "Oh then I'm going with you."

"Na, I got this. Your talents are better used here with Clark, we gotta figure out what happened with Watchtower."

He watched as she strode forward to give her best friend a fierce hug and watched Clark's facial expression change as she whispered to low for Lois and Martha to hear. "Clark, I saw you too, and you were the worlds hero and you weren't in black." Those words meant to be reassuring, that she had seen him succeed seemed to add to whatever pressure Clark was feeling and it showed in his face.

She let him go and said a little more audibly "See you in the funny pages." Clark in a comic strip…if only the man had a sense of humor.

Passing a slightly bewildered Clark he followed her out the front door and called to her.

"Hey, I'll feel better if you let me be your chauffeur" his fingers lightly brushing down her back. She was so beautiful, calm and poised.

"No, you need to do what you do best. Be a hero." When she looked at him her dazzling eyes told him of the faith and trust she had, in him…in them. As much as he wanted to be in the foxhole with her when it all went down, he knew she was right. They needed to be doing what their talents let them do best.

"You too Sullivan," he responded before pulling her towards him for a parting kiss that was sincere and hopeful. He knew that despite whatever had happened earlier in the day that they loved each other. With a prayer in his heart for her safety he watched his Tower of strength leave the Kent Farm.

-xxXxx-

Unlike Dark Thursday, there was an apprehension about the citizens of Metropolis but not an outright panic, people being somewhat pacified by the President's statement.

Now that he was free of the dark mark, the motorcycle ride towards Watchtower had given him time to identify the memories that Granny must have scrambled with.

He remembered meeting Kara in Ireland, her retelling of how Orion had defeated Darkseid, finding and losing the Bow of Orion, and digging for the Gold Kryptonite.

Revulsion and disgust crept into his thoughts and he was sure that if he checked Watchtower's security feeds he'd find it was himself that compromised Watchtower's systems. Cursing in every language he knew, he parked his bike and raced towards the top floor of the building.

Bursting through the doors he gave the command. "Activate computer monitors."

The AI responded. "Monitors on". He walked to the closest terminal and entered his password. "Systems Online."

He began searching the buildings they had previously identified as belonging to the prophets. Satisfied he had found where they were hiding out, he retrieved his Bow from the storage locker, preparing himself mentally for what was to come and called his wife.

She picked up before the phone had even rung once. "Chloe, I've got Watchtower back online," he blurted.

Her voice sounded relived. "Good 'cause the FAA has grounded all flights except for Airforce One and I'm still at the airport. I was about to call Bart."

Knowing that time was tight, he got down to business. "I need your help. Tess was working on the Veritas journals and Carter's notes and I've got the location of the prophets. I need to know anything else that will help me."

He could hear her frantically typing in the background. "All of Tess's work on the journals should be coming up now…." He started reading like his life depended on the information.

Less than half an hour later, dressed in his Green Arrow costume he made his way into the building that the unholy trinity of Desaad, Godfrey and Granny were in.

Looking over the décor, the interior decorator had to go, he decided. There was nothing homely about the Omega sign altar, or the roaring fire, which appropriately in his mind symbolized the impending hell, should they fail their fellow man. But they weren't going to.

The prophets had been overconfident. Kara had told him the Bow of Orion had worked for Orion only after he had found the strength to turn away from the darkness. The words on the bow had translated to "_The Only True Power Comes from Within_" .

True he'd had help in overcoming the darkness, but in the end he had had to make the right choice and chose the light. Now that he had followed in Orion's footsteps he didn't need Orion's bow. He had his own, and he had faith in the promise. The power to vanquish this evil didn't come from an ancient weapon, but rather from the person. He had already crushed the gold kryptonite ring.

He could hear their gloating:

_"The Day of Judgment is upon us."_

_"We've saved the willing souls from the coming Apokolips to serve the dark lord."_

_"Our work is done."_

Call it childish but his voice distorter just made his words sound a little more… menacing. He turned it on and he made himself visible. "You can say that again."

Surprised Granny approached him surprised. "Your mark has been lifted."

Godfrey was visibly shocked. "That's impossible."

Feeling the building tremor he snarked, "Yeah I got this friend, cool leather jacket, blurs faster than a speeding bullet, he's pretty good at impossible."

Then Desaad spoke. "You were so close to experiencing the rapture known only to those that will be serving our lord for eternity while all the others perish. Do you really think you possess the power to vanquish our lord from the souls of those he saved?"

"No, but I got friends in high places." He responded honestly. But if Clark could help him he could help everyone else.

Granny raised her hand, undoubtedly to scramble his brain some more. He raised his bow loaded with three arrows and watched with satisfaction as the arrows hit their targets simultaneously causing the prophets to implode into nothing.

_The Only True Power comes from Within_

A Servant of the Light had just vanquished three servants of the Dark. The rest was now up to Clark.

Making his way into the crowd in his street clothes, he quietly encouraged his friend as he spotted a red-blue-blur soaring overhead. He couldn't help but feel a lot of brotherly love for the man who had saved his life earlier in the day and had discovered his own power within.

As Clark pushed the planet away, the crowd around him cheered and hugged loved ones while he smiled. Day saved again with a little help from some friends.

"Ollie! Ollie!" He heard a faint voice calling for him and he looked for her. There she stood on the corner, still in her blue dress from the morning.

At a speed that put Bart to shame she was in his arms like a flash.

"Are you okay?"

"Mmmmh much better now that you're in my arms," he murmured, his lips brushing over the spot behind her ears that he knew was ticklish making her giggle before she started kissing him back.

After peppering him with kisses she finally let him go. "We should head back to WatchTower and check on the others."

He nodded. Work first, play later.

-xxXxx-

Two days later, they buried Tess, making the cost of this victory incredibly high. Connor had been inconsolable and Emil, well this had been the most withdrawn he had ever seen their normally resilient physician. He and Chloe would have to check up on them more regularly.

By the end of the week they were back in Star City, strolling along the beach hand in hand her thumb brushing over his knuckles. They'd covered off the events of the wedding, the Phantom Zone and his defeat of the prophets.

Still in his opinion they had much more to talk about. Her job. Rings. Family. That word had been on his mind for the last few days.

"What are you thinking about hero."

Pulling her close until she was hugging him. "Family... You and me getting away for a couple of days, no phones or computers so we can relax and regroup."

At that moment he wasn't sure of what was going through her mind but he was on the receiving end of one of her dazzling smiles.

"Funny you should mention family…. I've been thinking a lot about that myself lately. Especially when you were in the Phantom Zone… I know that when I made the decision to move to Star City I wanted to re-establish myself as a journalist and assist the team in recruiting. And I still want to do those things."

"But?"

"But. You're the most import person in my life Ollie. I love you, you're it for me and I know what family means to you." They stopped walking while she paused. "So I'm putting it out there, whenever you're ready to expand our immediately family, I'm ready to start trying."

All he'd dared hope for was that she was willing to consider the idea. He was elated that she was on the same page as him, but as she had proven, she usually was.

"I'm ready," he said softly pulling her into a searing kiss. "I think we deserve a second honeymoon."

She giggled in between his kisses. "We didn't really have a first."

"Okay first and second honeymoon." He could feel his body responding immediately to the idea of being alone and intimate with her.

"Whoa Romeo. How bout we move this to a less public place, before we get to the indecent public exposure stage," she said as she moved away from him slightly.

"Chloe?"

"Mmm."

"You are my everything, I love you."

She smiled again and whispered in his ear. "Come on Romeo, someone mentioned a honeymoon where I can show him how much I love him. Not to mention we have a lot to celebrate, and a baby to make."

**-Fin-**


End file.
